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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I love to quote the eight lines of poetry below to illustrated the fact that God often uses the difficulties of life to teach us important lessons ! I have certainly learned important lesssons in my life in times of disappointment and sorrow I would never have learned other wise.

It began at the age of nine, when I stood at the bedside of my dying father and witnessed the Christian peace and love that, not only sustained him , but gave him joy in the midst of death.

"I walked a mile with pleasureShe chatted all the way.But left me none the wiser,For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrowAnd n'er a word said she.But Oh the things I learned from her,When sorrow walked with me."

A few years ago a piece with a similiar theme passed through the internet entiltle "I wish you Enough."

Something to think about as we began a New Year,"I wish you Enough"."Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last momentstogether at the airport. They had announced the departure.Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said "I loveyou and I wish you enough." The daughter replied, "Mom, our life together has been more than enough.Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom."They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry.

I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking"Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?"."Yes, I have, "I replied. "Forgive me for asking but why is this aforever good-bye?". "I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and thereality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral" she said.

"When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say 'I wish you enough'. May I ask what that means?

"She began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone".She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detailand she smiled even more. "When we said 'I wish you enough' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them". Then turning toward me she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory --

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear muchbigger.I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.I wish you enough faith in God to get you through the final good-bye.

TAKE TIME TO LIVE.....To all my friends and loved ones: A HAPPY NEW YEAR OF GRACE AND PEACE.

9 comments:

Beautiful....if we could all learn to be thankful for enough, what a better life we would have. Too often we are concerned with getting more and more when enough is enough!Happy New Year and may God fill 2006 with His blessings, which are alway enough.

Wow! I got a lot of them wrong!!! If I'd gone with first instinct, would have only had two wrong... Just didn't have enough faith in the old memory, I guess. Yup, another Christian school graduate. Duh! Happy New Year Ruth! ;-)